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Does anyone else find themselves caught in between holiday excitement and sheer exhaustion this time of year? November and December fly by, and I'm ready to channel student excitement into learning better than ever!

Here are some of the fun things we're up to! (Sneak peak in pictures below.)

November:

We've been all about practicing kindness and building our attitudes of gratitude.

We love all things snowman! It's a great winter subject that all of my students can enjoy. Their favorite activity is to make a "snowman puddle" craft story (see below).

A great attention getter for any lesson is to pose a question and have students record their answer on a sheet of paper and crumple it into a ball. Students then have a "snowball" fight where they toss their paper on the floor and everyone has to pick up someone else's snowball. They read and write a response to the new snowball they choose, then repeat as many times as fits your lesson.

Candy cane geometry - you bet we snack on candy canes while we work :) Super simple to add a treat and excitement to any lesson.

Our math & ELA centers are winter themed too! I love to stock up on Target's dollar spot erasers then swap them out for new ones each week. They can't wait to get to their rotations and see their new erasers.

Teaching is always
busy, and December is no exception. Does anyone else feel like the year is
flying by and you’re just trying to catch your breath? Despite my ever growing checklist I absolutely
love December, absolutely love Christmas, and absolutely love the gift of
giving.

Each year, my goal
is to give my students a heartfelt gift before sending them off for the
holidays. Here is a top 10 collection of tried and true holiday gift ideas that your students are
sure to love.

1 - Snowman Soup

This is one of my favorite go-to gift ideas from Ashley Schroeder. You put together hot cocoa, marshmallows, chocolate chips, and a candy cane (the stirring stick - so cute right?), plus an adorable note she includes for free! (Click here for your copy.) Snowman soup has been done a ton of different ways and easily adapts to fit your budget.

Looking
to build community and start your school year off on the right foot? I've
teamed up with six other wonderful teachers to bring you some amazing back to
school resources for FREE! We want to help you have the #BestSchoolYearEver!
Simply follow the rafflecopter link below, for each "follow" you will
get one entry towards winning this fabulous package!

What's will you win?! Click each image to see more!

Build classroom community daily with Cait's Cool School's Question of the Day!

As soon as I heard about flexible seating I knew I wanted to give it a try!I’m thrilled that you’re here and interested in improving your students’
learning via flexible seating! This has been a game changer in my classroom and
I can’t wait for it to transform your room too. It can be intimating and a bit
overwhelming to consider, but you won’t regret it!

Last year my co-worker and
I noticed a need for substantial and meaningful opinion writing topics. We were
tired of reading cats vs dogs, the battle of school uniforms, or that there should
be longer lunches. Sound familiar?